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Mexican authorities rescue 22 foreigners kidnapped from a hotel

FE Team | Published: September 15, 2021 10:52:15 | Updated: September 15, 2021 18:01:55

A police patrol car is parked outside the Sol y Luna hotel after gunmen stormed the hotel and kidnapped some 20 foreigners believed to be mostly from Haiti and Venezuela, according to state's attorney general office, in Matehuala, in San Luis Potosi state, Mexico on September 14, 2021 — Reuters photo

Mexican authorities on Tuesday rescued 22 foreigners, most of them Cuban and Haitian, who were earlier in the day kidnapped when gunmen stormed a hotel in the central state of San Luis Potosi, the region's attorney general said.

The gunmen also kidnapped 16 Mexicans when they ransacked the Sol y Luna hotel in Matehuala, about 195 km (120 miles) north of the city of San Luis Potosi, the regional capital, reports Reuters.

The Mexicans were released earlier but the foreign nationals had to be rescued in a remote area by the road between Matehuala and the regional capital, Arturo Garza Herrera, the attorney general of the state, said in a statement.

The foreigners were due to be transferred to the city of San Luis Potosi to be fed and to get medical help. Garza's office did not give any details of the rescue or say if any of the foreigners were injured.

While most of the rescued foreigners were Haitians and Cubans, earlier there were reports that some Venezuelans were among them, Garza's office said in a statement. Three minors and a pregnant woman were among them.

"I am going to notify the migration institute so that they can be involved since we do not know the migratory status of these people," Garza said.

Many migrants hoping to reach the United States face great danger on the way, with kidnappings, extortion, rape and even murders reported. Some are conscripted to work for drug cartels fighting over drug-trafficking routes.

In June, a human rights group reported that some 3,300 migrants stranded in Mexico since January due to a US border policy have been kidnapped, raped, trafficked or assaulted.

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